Riz Ahmed makes history an acting Emmy

Riz Ahmed makes history as the first Muslim man to win an acting Emmy

British actor and rapper Riz Ahmed made history on Sunday night when he became the first Asian man and first Muslim to take home an Emmy Award for acting.

Ahmed, who was born to British Pakistani parents in Wembley, won over Benedict Cumberbatch, Robert De Niro and Ewan McGregor to take home the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie category for his performance in The Night Of.

Ahmed plays Nasir “Naz” Khan in the HBO-produced drama, which follows the unpicking of a complicated murder case in New York City, in which Khan, a college student, is accused of murdering a girl on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.

In his acceptance speech, Ahmed shared his award with his The Night Of co-star John Turturro, and paid tribute to the late James Gandolfini, who spearheaded the project from the beginning and was originally meant to star.

In a press conference afterwards, Ahmed spoke about the wider implications of him winning an Emmy acting award.”I don’t know if one person’s win of an award, one person snagging one role, or one person doing very well, changes something that’s a systemic issue of inclusion in this industry,” he said, “I think that’s something that happens slowly, over time. If there’s enough isolated examples of success then maybe the dots start joining up and it’s not as slow a process as it sometimes is.”

Ahmed’s victory was championed online, including by comedian and writer Meera Syal, who posted on Twitter